Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-06-11
the BEAUTIFUL WEST INDIES.

nehitnIui Ciimnte ana MnSniucent
s~cenery-Piain and C~ordilera-
Those Islands are as distinct in features
- In origin. Some are suggestive Of a
poriod when a large portion Of our o n
tnent was submerged in the ocean.
Oilers are towering masses Of trap rock,
With con like SUBMITS, declaring their
volcanic descent. Others for ages have
bsen In q progressive state-the work of
the invisible zophite architect. Some
hnve not yet risen above the belt OF foam
that marks their existence as coral reefs,
md notifies the mariners Of danger,
while others soar above the tides and
boom with evidences Of bounteous har-
vests. Servile instructions, attended
with great loss of property and life, have,
IN years past, retarded the prosperity Of
those islands. Shocks of earthquake
there have alarmed the inhabitants, and
the serenity Of the heavens is often dis
turbed by the desolating track of the
hurricane. Large confiagrations have
occurred there, as in the United States,
but energy has surmounted those losses
by fire, and better built houses have
arisen from the ruins.
From December to May the climate is
delightful and healthy, even along the
coast, where, in the summer months,
yellow fever occasionally occur. The
mountainous regions or cordilleras, where
the wealthy planters have their elegant
residences, are blessed with a perennial
springtime and exempted from epidemic
Influences. The mean temperature Of
these highlands is about 20 Fahrenheit,
and at the elevation Of $500 feet
you are securely fortified against the
attacks Of yellow jack. Beauty
and sublimity in a pre-eminent de-
gree are combined in the scenery of those
cordilleras, especially in the blue noun
tains of Jamaica, the largest and most
valuable island of tie British West In
dies. The Hottest Peak of that ridge,
which extends some fifty leagues in
length, isnearly 5000 feet high, although
the mean elevation does not exceed one
third of that measurement. The crest of
the chain is so sharp that in many places
It Is only four yards across; the escarp-
ments are wild, the declivities steep,
checkered in places with stately forest
growth. The more elevated ranges are
hanked by still lower ones, and these by
verdant savannahs.
A belt of intervening plain lies between
the ocean and the blue cordillera and is
frightened with tracks of guinea grass,
corn. sugar cane and groves of cocoa and
p~lantain proudly tossing their palmated
heads in unison with the rustling airs.
There are also seen the tapering furnaces
of the sugar works, the overseer's dwell
ing and clusters Of the laborers' huts,
But those evidences of culture and popu'
lation are not confined to the plain. Lool
up the steep, rugged side of the cordillers
and you will see where its precipitousnes
does not render cultivation impossible.
The dark tint of the woodland that gives
a name TO the mountain chain is diversi.
6ed with the light green of cultivated
fields and golden shades Of ripening cere-
ala You viii zee abrupt cliffs dotted
with white specks as points of rock, OF
perchance reminding you of an eagles
aerie. When with a telescope these point:
are brought closer to your vision, you be.
hold M white speck transformed into Q
lovely country seat, others into hamlets
nesting on the brows Of p~recipices 5000
feet or more in height. Bride paths
scarcely twelve feet wide are cut up the
sides Of this cordillera to its gorges ant
table lands, for journeys in the interior
are generally made on horseback, as ths
asperities of the country are unfavorabl,
to the transit Of carriages. -Baltimor'
American.